


We Can Fall Hard, Just Like That

by khaleesiq



Category: Vampire Academy & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-03
Updated: 2016-06-03
Packaged: 2018-07-12 01:32:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7079119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/khaleesiq/pseuds/khaleesiq
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose wishes her life was a little more like a romance novel. The girl who works at the bookstore next to the coffee shop might just think the same thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Can Fall Hard, Just Like That

**Author's Note:**

  * For [elduderino](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elduderino/gifts).



> So I finished reading all the Vampire Academy books (I've yet to read Bloodlines) and I thought "Hmm, you know who would make a great couple? Sydney and Rose." Upon finding that there was ONE Sydney/Rose fic in the VA fandom I decided to write one myself because they deserve more fanfiction. So, I started with a classic, the coffee shop AU. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Title taken from the song "Bind Your Love" by Cher Lloyd.

Rose has to admit, there is absolutely nothing romantic about working at a coffee shop. She’s heard about all the meet-cutes that happen at cafés, the little notes that baristas leave on cups for their customers, the regulars that come in and eye the barista over their books.

It’s all bullshit.

Here’s what happens when you work at a coffee shop: you stand on your feet for eight hours a day (if you’re lucky), fulfill next to impossible orders from people that don’t have the time to wait for you to figure out how the fuck to make it, and then admit that the customer is always right.

Fuck that. Rose is always right and the customer can suck her dick.

Sometimes, though, she’ll fantasize that the next person that walks through that door will be her soulmate. That they’ll make eyes at each other and make up some pun about pumpkin spice lattes (what kind of pun you can make about pumpkin spice lattes, Rose has no idea, but she’s sure her soulmate knows).

Of course that never happens. The only thing that stupid little bell signals is that Rose has more work to do.

So when a girl with long blonde hair and a golden tattoo that looked like some kind of flower walked into the café, Rose thought nothing of it. Until the girl ordered a coffee, making a point to say that she liked it black. Now she’s just annoyed at the pretentious personality this girl is exercising.

Rose knows she’s not a good person, but at least she’s not a pretentious asshole, so that’s got to count for something, right?

“What’ll be the name for that?” Rose asks, her Sharpie up and ready to mark up the coffee cup with some “unique” white name that’s basically just a fancy spelling of a regular name.

“Sydney,” the girl tells her, “spelled the normal way.”

Rose falters for a second, wondering if the girl can read her mind. Now that would be something this girl has got going for her.

“I can tell by the look on your face that I’m some annoying white girl who thinks she’s special because she drinks black coffee and reads and has a cool spelling for her name,” Sydney says.

“Right,” Rose says, drawing out the “i”. She still doesn’t quite believe this girl can’t read her mind. But she’s got other customers, so she doesn’t really have time to respond with anything except the order total and “Your order will be ready shortly.”

Sydney waits by the end of the counter while Rose pours her coffee. And then, because her life is actually terrible, she ends up spilling it all over the floor. She groans in frustration, ignoring Sydney’s eye roll.

It’s not like it’s that hard to pour more black coffee, and it’s mid-afternoon when there’s never any kind of rush. But still, she’s got more than one customer waiting for her at the moment and it’s a little frustrating that she can’t even serve a simple black coffee right.

That’s another thing they don’t mention in those stupid coffee shop meet-cutes: how fucking terrible the work can be. Rose just wishes her soulmate would hurry up and get the fuck over here so she can quit and they can ride off into the sunset—

“Excuse me?” Sydney calls, waving her hand a little. “I don’t mean to rush you, but my break is almost over so I need my coffee, like, now.”

And those are the worst kinds of customers. The ones who expect you to finish making their drinks in .5 seconds like she’s playing Diner Dash or something. Rose isn’t a superhero, although it would be awesome if she was because then she wouldn’t have to be here all day.

“Here you go,” Rose says with a pleasant smile as she hands it over. She doesn’t bother arguing with Sydney, it’ll only get her in trouble.

Sydney grabs the cup and practically bolts from the café. Yeah, definitely not Rose’s soulmate.

***

Unfortunately, Sydney turns out to be a regular.

At least, that’s the path Rose thinks this is going down when Sydney walks into the café the very next day, at around the same time. At least Sydney looks a little more cheerful as she walks up to the counter and asks for her black coffee.

As she waits, she starts speaking. There’s no one in line behind her today, so Rose doesn’t mind so much. But why she thinks Rose wants to talk to her after how rude she was yesterday, she has no idea.

“I’m really sorry about my behavior yesterday,” Sydney remarks, leaning on her elbows over the counter.

There’s no way this girl isn’t reading her mind.

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Rose tells her as she hands over the coffee. Although, she feels a little smug that Sydney was worrying about it. It shows that she’s human in one way.

“I will worry about it,” Sydney insists. “I was just a little stressed because I just started this new job at the bookstore next door and I don’t want to mess up. I really need this job and—sorry I’m rambling.”

Rose doesn’t even notice that she was rambling, though. She’s too caught up in where Sydney said she was working.

“You work next door?” Rose clarifies, her eyes wide as she studies Sydney’s features, hoping to detect some kind of lie. She doesn’t know why someone would lie about that, unless they’re some kind of alien who reads minds.

Sydney’s face lights up though, and Rose’s heart sinks. She definitely works next door. “At Brohman’s Books?” she says, nodding vigorously. “I love bookshops, especially tiny, quaint ones like Brohman’s. There’s something romantic about being surrounded by old, dusty books all day. Sorry, that sounds crazy.”

Actually…that sounded like all kinds of wonderful. When Rose had accepted this job at the café she couldn’t help but think how romantic being surrounded by the smell of coffee and uninspired writers and artists would be. Plus, with that little bookstore next door she could go over and buy books during her break.

That never happened though. Mostly people would get their coffee and go, or if they stayed, plug in their headphones and hunch over their laptops the whole time. And her break was only fifteen minutes long, and she just wanted to get off her feet during that time.

But the fact that Sydney described something so perfect left Rose a little speechless. Maybe they were more alike than Rose initially thought. She still doesn’t think that Sydney is her soulmate, by any means, but maybe she could be a friend.

“And you think I’m weird,” Sydney says, letting out a self-deprecating laugh. “You seem like you’re way too cool to be into all that romantic bullshit.”

Talk about judging a book by its cover. If Sydney wasn’t going to let Rose judge her from their first encounter, Rose wouldn’t let her do the same.

“Actually, I love romance,” Rose admits. It wasn’t something she admitted often, except to her best friend, Lissa. But if Lissa ever said anything to her boyfriend, Christian, Rose had given her a very detailed explanation of what would happen to him. “I saw the latest Nicholas Sparks movie, like, five times in theaters.”

Sydney laughs, a full on laugh this time, and Rose finds that she kind of likes it. No, _really_ likes it. “Is it terrible that I claim to be a literary snob and yet I love those books?”

Rose shakes her head, completely serious. “Absolutely not. You’re allowed to enjoy something for the sake of enjoying it sometimes. If anyone tells you differently, let them know where to find me. I’ll gladly kick their ass.”

“I don’t doubt you will,” Sydney says, a twinkle in her eye. What the fuck is that all about? “You seem like a total badass.” And then she bites her lip as she gives Rose a once-over.

And Rose—Rose has no idea what to do with herself. She’s been checked out plenty of times (maybe that’s why her boss hasn’t fired her for her terrible work ethic yet, she keeps the thirsty guys coming), but not like this. Not in a way that was so weirdly innocent.

Rose lied before. She doesn’t want to become Sydney’s friend, not if she’s going to give her all these conflicting feelings.

Lucky for Rose, Sydney sighs and remarks, “I have to be back at work in, like, two minutes. But it was nice talking to you, Rose.” Rose’s eyes go wide, wondering if Sydney read her mind again, but then realizes she’s wearing a nametag. “I hope to see you tomorrow.”

Rose wishes her the same, but she really, really hopes she doesn’t.

***

Rose sees Sydney the next day.

And the next day, and the day after that, and the day after _that_. For about a month, Rose and Sydney get stuck working at the same time of day, and Sydney continues coming to Rose for coffee during her break. Rose wishes that she hated it, but really, there’s no reason she should.

Except for the fact that Sydney is practically everything she’s ever wanted and more.

At first, Rose learns that Sydney’s a bit uptight. That she hates being late to anything, and she follows rules down to a T. And as much as she was laughing with Rose that second day she came into the café, she grimaces whenever Rose is being a bit too inappropriate. And doesn’t swear, like ever.

But Sydney might just be the person that can bring Rose down whenever she wants to do something outrageous. She might just be the girl that can put up with Rose’s jokes even if she doesn’t always agree with them. And above all, she listens to Rose. She doesn’t try to dissuade her from anything, or disagree with her, she just listens and offers her opinion. And sometimes it’s different that Rose’s, but she never acts as if that means Rose is wrong.

Not to mention the fact that Sydney is gorgeous. Not that that should matter if Rose really cares about her personality, but it certainly helps.

“What is the tattoo on your cheek?” Rose asks one day. There’s no one else in the coffee shop, except some hipster with Beats headphones covering his ears. Rose casually leans over the counter, watching as Sydney sips her drink.

“It’s a golden lily,” Sydney answers. That’s something else that Sydney does that Rose would find annoying with anyone else. She answers everything so narrowly, so bluntly that there’s no room for interpretation. It’s kind of nice that Rose doesn’t have to guess what she means half the time.

“What does it mean though?” Rose clarifies. “Is it some kind of gang symbol for, like, book nerds? Every time you read a book you get a tattoo to symbolize your accomplishment?”

Sydney snorts, nearly spitting out coffee in the process. These are Rose’s favorite moments, when Sydney relaxes so much that she just lets herself go.

“No,” Sydney says once she’s composed herself again. “There’s no book gang. I just really liked the design.”

“But why your cheek?” Rose presses. Usually she doesn’t try to go this far about details of Sydney’s life, but it’s one of the few things she’s noticed about Sydney from day one, and she really wants to know more about it.

“Well,” Sydney starts, pausing to sip her drink, “it’s the most obvious part of the body, the first thing that people see when they look at you. And I’m kind of, I don’t know, plain, so I thought it would make me remarkable in some way.”

That—that was not the kind of answer Rose was expecting. She’s not entirely sure what she thought Sydney would say, but it definitely wasn’t something like _that_. Is this truly what Sydney thought about herself? That she wasn’t remarkable? Because if so, Rose had a few thoughts about that.

“Sydney, I want you to know—” Rose starts, but she’s interrupted by a boisterous voice echoing off the walls of the coffee shop.

“What a fine establishment this is! No wonder you come here so often.”

Sydney blushes as she turns to face the intruder. Because that’s what he is. Rose doesn’t care if he’s the nicest person in the world, he intruded on what could have been a very special moment between Rose and her—lady friend, person.

“Adrian, what are you doing here?” Sydney asks, standing up to greet him. His arm goes around her waist, and Sydney leans against him—

Oh. _Oh._

It suddenly clicks, who this person must be. Rose wondered why Sydney had never made a move this whole time, what with how straightforward she usually is, but now she understands. She feels like a complete idiot, letting herself get caught up in feelings for Sydney when she had a boyfriend.

“C’mon babe, you know what time it is,” Sydney’s boyfriend—Adrian, Rose thinks she called him—says, squeezing her.

“Sorry, I got a little distracted,” Sydney tells him, giving Rose a pointed look. A look that Rose would have read as, “I got distracted by this hot girl that I really want to fuck” before meeting Adrian.

“Yeah, I should get back to work,” Rose says in a clipped voice. If only there were more people here, then her excuse and frustration would sound a little more legitimate. As it is, Sydney frowns, not quite understanding Rose’s sudden change in mood.

And that’s probably what hurts the most. Not that Sydney has this gorgeous as fuck boyfriend that she never mentioned, but that she clearly never saw how into her Rose was. Oh well, c’est la vie.

Rose knew that Sydney couldn’t be her soulmate.

***

Not even Lissa, who’s usually the sunshine of Rose’s life, is able to lift her spirits.

For the next week, Rose remains in a foul mood, requesting shifts at any other time of day other than the fateful time when Sydney comes over during her break. Rose even suffers the early morning rush just to avoid seeing her.

It just sucks, liking someone so much, thinking you have a chance with them, and then reality setting in, reminding you that your life isn’t a goddamn Nicholas Sparks novel.

“I think you’re setting your expectations a little too high,” Lissa remarks as she leans back against the coffee counter. Rose is currently working the closing shift, and the café is full of college aged students working on their laptops, too busy to order more coffee. Not that Rose minds. The less work the better.

“Is it too much to ask for someone to build me the house I’ve always dreamed of, kiss me in the rain, and then make love to me all night long?” Rose sighs wistfully.

Lissa rolls her eyes. “We can’t all have Ryan Gosling.” She perks up as Christian emerges from the bathroom. “But some of us can come close.”

“Gross,” Rose mumbles, pretending to gag as Lissa and Christian share a quick kiss.

“You’re just jealous,” Christian remarks to Rose, leaning away from Lissa but keeping her close.

“Jealous that you get to kiss Lissa?” Rose says. “Of course I am, she’s a great catch. I’d love to make out with her whenever I can.”

“Maybe that’s why you’re never able to find love,” Lissa says. “You’re too bitter and sarcastic.”

“Sydney loved my bitterness and sarcasm,” Rose mutters dejectedly. “Well, maybe not _loved_ it, but she at least tolerated it.”

“Are you sure that guy was her boyfriend?” Christian asks. “Did she ever say the words, ‘Rose, this is my boyfriend’?”

“She didn’t need to,” Rose argues. “You didn’t see the way he was holding her. It’s kind of like how you hold Lissa. I almost threw up all over them.”

“For someone who loves romance you sure talk a lot about how much it makes you want to throw up,” Lissa points out.

Rose gives her a horrified look as Christian says, “Rose likes _romance_? If by romance you mean violence and gore, then yeah, she loves it a lot.”

“Yeah Lissa, where’d you ever get an idea like that?” Rose says, giving her a warning look. “Anyway, you two are no help. I’m regretting ever telling you about my crisis.”

“Here’s an idea,” Christian says, “why don’t you just talk to her?”

Rose and Lissa break into laughter, both bending down and grabbing their stomachs dramatically. Rose even pretends to wipe tears from her eyes for effect. Christian does not look amused.

“What’s so wrong with that?” Christian demands. “You can’t solve relationship problems if you don’t even have basic communication skills. Besides, I thought you liked having Sydney around as a friend. Even if she has a boyfriend, that doesn’t mean you have to cut off all contact with her.”

Christian, as much as Rose hates to say it, has a point. Where Lissa brought her up, Christian brought her back down again. But this time he’s right, and Rose actually considers following his advice. This whole week without Sydney has been kind of a downer. Rose realizes that she had started to look forward to her little fifteen minute visits with Sydney. And Rose doesn’t want to let go of that, even if they just remained friends.

Of course, Rose has the most perfect life, and Adrian walks through the door at that exact moment.

“Adrian,” Rose says, surprised. Lissa and Christian give her bewildered looks, but Rose ignores them. Because right now, she has to deal with Adrian. And he looks downright _pissed_.

“Okay,” he demands, slamming a hand onto the counter, “what did you do to Sydney?”

“Well hi, how are you doing today?” Rose says, because apparently the only way she can deal with difficult situations is with sarcasm. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

“I don’t have time for your little jokes right now,” Adrian says, pointing a finger in Rose’s face. “My best friend has been crying for about a week now because the girl she likes has been ignoring her.”

Wait, _what_? Best friend? Girl she likes? Oh fuck.

“Oh god,” Rose moans, glancing at Lissa and Christian, who still haven’t caught on to what Adrian is saying. “I think I fucked up. Like really badly.”

“Are you going to explain yourself or what?” Adrian asks, crossing his arms over his chest and raising an eyebrow.

“I really like Sydney,” Rose says. She thinks it’s best to get that out of the way because it seems like it’s the most important detail. “And I’ve been waiting for her to make a move, and then when you came into the café I thought you were her boyfriend. And I was so upset and embarrassed that I’ve been ignoring her ever since.”

Adrian backs up a little, confusion and then understanding settling into his sharp features. “You thought Sydney and I were… Holy shit.”

And then, as if Rose wasn’t embarrassed enough, he starts laughing, much in the way that Rose and Lissa had done earlier.

“Is this how you feel when we laugh at you?” Rose asks Christian. “I mean, it doesn’t mean I’m gonna stop, but at least now I know what it feels like.”

Adrian stops laughing, but he still has a slight twinkle in his eye. “I’m sorry about that. It’s just—we’ve been best friends since we were in diapers. She’s practically like my sister, I could never date her.”

“Yeah, I got that,” Rose grumbled.

“But this misunderstanding doesn’t mean you’re off the hook,” Adrian says, suddenly serious again. “You seriously hurt Sydney. And you know what a romantic she is. She really thought she had a shot with you.”

“I know,” Rose says. “And I promise, I’ll find some way to fix this.”

Adrian nods and leaves the café without another word. He doesn’t even order anything, which Rose thinks is a little rude.

“So what are you going to do?” Lissa asks once he’s gone.

“I have no fucking idea.”

***

Rose hopes Sydney isn’t as bitter as Rose and still works the same shift as always. That would seriously ruin the plans that Rose spent all night working on. And when she says all night, she means _all night_. Lissa and Christian weren’t too happy about it, but at least they’re here and that’s all that matters.

Rose takes a deep breath and enters the bookstore. She whistles lowly as she takes in her surroundings. Sydney wasn’t kidding when she said this bookstore is tiny. There’s so many books for this small space that they’re practically spilling over the shelves.

Sydney isn’t at the desk when Rose enters, but she comes around the corner of one of the aisles (and by aisle, Rose means precarious stack of books) about a second later. When she sees Rose she drops the stack of books she was holding and covers her mouth in shock.

Rose immediately goes to help her pick up the books, because she’s chivalrous like that, and ends up knocking her head against Sydney’s as they stand back up.

“Ow,” the groan at the same time, reaching for their foreheads. They stare at each other for a second before breaking into laughter.

Sydney is the first to recover. She sets down her books on the desk and asks Rose, “What are you doing here? I thought you wanted nothing to do with me?”

Rose shakes her head, taking a step forward. Sydney takes one backward, her back hitting the desk and knocking some books over. Collateral damage.

“I want everything to do with you.” _Woah, Rose, calm down_ , she tells herself. _That may be a bit forward._ But Sydney is nothing if not forward, so Rose may as well do the same. “I love spending time with you. You’re sweet, and you put up with my shit. And you don’t make fun of my stupid romantic fantasies. I should never have stopped talking to you, Sydney.”

Sydney’s lips quirk up in the ghost of a smile, but just as quickly as it’s there, it’s gone again. She sighs. “Yeah, but just as a friend, right? I know that’s why you ran, Rose. I was too forward with my intentions and you got freaked out by my crush.”

“No, of course not!” Rose says, grabbing for Sydney’s hands. It says a lot about how much Sydney likes Rose that she doesn’t try to pull them away. “I really like you, too, and I was waiting forever for you to make a move. In fact, I was surprised you didn’t because you can usually read my mind so easily.”

“I can’t read your—” Sydney tries to say, but Rose keeps going. If she loses momentum now, then she’s never going to gain back the confidence to say what she needs to say.

“But then I saw you with Adrian being all gross and lovey-dovey and I thought he was your boyfriend. And I was so ashamed that I liked you that I retreated. But Adrian explained that he was just your best friend and so I stayed up all night trying to figure out a way to make it up to you.”

“You stayed up all night for what?” Sydney says, gesturing around herself and Rose. “A heartfelt apology in a dusty old bookstore? Doesn’t seem that complicated.” But she was still smiling. Even if that was all it was, Rose can tell she’s got her.

“I thought you could read my mind,” Rose smiles, pulling her toward the entrance. “That’s not all I’ve got planned for you.”

Once they step outside little droplets of water start falling from above them, traveling down their faces and dampening their clothes. It’s not the dramatic rainstorm Rose had wanted, but she supposes having her two best friends sitting on the roof of the bookstore holding a watering can above their heads is the next best thing.

Sydney laughs her true, genuine laugh that Rose loves so much, as she looks up and sees where the water is coming from. “Rose! What is this?”

“A romantic declaration,” Rose explains. They’re beginning to get a little wetter, but not soaked to the bone like Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. “There being no rain in the forecast kind of put a damper on things, but I think I did okay with what I had.”

“It put a damper on things,” Sydney repeated with a soft smile. “I swear, Hathaway, your puns were much better when we first met.”

“I wasn’t really trying to—”

Rose gets cut off when Sydney places her hands on Rose’s shoulders and pulls her in for a kiss. Usually Rose hates getting interrupted, but she doesn’t mind it so much now. She wraps her hands around Sydney’s waist as she presses her lips harder against Sydney’s and loses herself in the kiss.

Droplets of rain get into her mouth as she opens it up to explore Sydney’s more deeply. Sydney kisses back eagerly as she presses herself harder against Rose’s body, practically melding into her. Rose swears she could get drunk on the taste Sydney’s tongue, on the way she feels against her—

“Ew, gross!”

Rose reluctantly pulls away from Sydney to find her friends grinning down at her. She sticks her tongue out at them quickly before going back in for another kiss. But Sydney stops her with a finger on her lips.

“I would’ve thought that after finally getting to kiss me you wouldn’t want to stop,” Rose comments with a raised eyebrow.

“I just have one question to ask,” Sydney says. Rose nods at her to continue. “Why do you keep saying that I can read your mind? I’m not some weird alien or something.”

“That sounds exactly like a mind-reading alien would say,” Rose deadpans. “Let’s just test it out for a second. What am I thinking right now?”

“You’re wondering what we’re doing standing around talking when we could be kissing,” Sydney guesses.

“See I told you,” Rose says before leaning back in.


End file.
